TRP Stories: Azza Gasim

Azza Gasim is Creative Community Connector for Theatre Royal Plymouth (TRP) and is currently engaging with new audiences ahead of Summer in the Scene Dock. Azza was born and bred in Plymouth and has a Sudanese heritage. After leaving school at 16, she moved to Dubai and gained a fashion degree at the age of 19. After completing work experience, she returned to the UK, living and working in Bristol before returning home to Plymouth.

Azza talks about getting into the creative industry: “Since I was very little, I’ve loved being able to draw pictures and illustrations, and I’ve always had an interest in fashion. My work experience in Dubai led me down the social media and community engagement route, but I’m an artist first and foremost.”

Describing herself as an ‘all round creative’, Azza is the artist behind the Union Street mural and also hosted a photography exhibition in collaboration with The Box last year featuring works from her dad’s archives and highlighting the ongoing war in Sudan. Named as one of Devon Chamber of Commerce’s 30 Under 30, she also worked as Social Media & Fundraising Officer for Devon & Cornwall Refugee Support which saw her raise thousands with her Film and Feast Fundraisers. It was at one of these events, she caught the attention of Liz King, Deputy CEO, Producing and Programming for TRP. Azza said: “It was this initiative that sparked a conversation with the theatre; an idea brewed, and Summer in the Scene Dock began.”

Although this is the first time Azza has worked behind the curtain in a theatre space, she has experienced theatre from an early age. She said: “I used to come when I was younger. One of my first memories is watching Swan Lake, but then I didn’t come for years. I didn’t feel there was anything for me and my community to come and see, until The Colour Purple. I had to watch the show twice; it was such an amazing production. One of the cast members was from Sudan and I invited him to Jabulani, a food vendor on Union Street, and he said it reminded him of his homeland and allowed him to reconnect with his roots.”

Connecting with vendors on Union Street is a key part of Azza’s new role, and she will be bringing key chefs into the theatre and Summer in the Scene Dock to reach new audiences.

She said: “TRP is in the middle of the city centre and although it is well connected with one side of the city, my job is to connect everyone here to other side; Union Street, Devonport and some areas around the Barbican – these deprived areas that show a lot of creative talent.

“I might be a black, female Muslim coming into a place that is predominately white, but the team of people here are working to change that and make it accessible for everyone. From the minute you walk through the theatre doors, to being greeted by the staff, I’ve felt more at home in the past few weeks than I have in a long time. I feel like I have this on my shoulders, but it’s to make that change for everyone else.

“I’m so excited to bring people together and get them excited to see this space and the programming.

“It’s the first time the theatre is doing anything like this. Things may go wrong, but the whole concept is to bring something new into this space and, looking ahead, it could be something we do again at Christmas or next summer.”

What’s next for Azza? She said: “My whole life has been a balance. I realised fashion wasn’t quite what I wanted to do, so went back into arts and saw so many more possibilities rather than focus on one lens.

“My hope is to open my own gallery one day. Whether that’s here, Bristol, London or Dubai, I’m still working on the finer details of what that looks like. It will be a space of creativity and legacy. I would love to train young creatives and for them to feel special and needed.

“There is so much talent coming from the next generation, and their voices matter just as much as ours. My hope is to be a role model for them. I didn’t have that many role models, apart from friends and family – so if I’m that person for everyone else, and they follow the good things I’ve done, then being better for them, is my number one goal.

“There is so much more I want to do. I’m not at my full potential yet – this is the start. Stay tuned!”

Keep up to date with everything happening at Summer in the Scene Dock here.

Watch Azza’s video: